Thanksgiving Tip: Select a Menu

With Thanksgiving a couple of weeks away now is a good time to plan your menu. I planned mine over the weekend. Here are some things one should take into consideration when deciding what dishes to serve on the big day.

We too also do a southern thanksgiving theme, but we add my father's Hispanic roots to it. Homemade cornbread, plantains, collard greens and smoked turkey legs, the traditional turkey, canned cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese and a spice or rum cake and pumpkin is always on the menu. Bring on the cholesterol!

i don't think that it's going to be difficult at all. as usual, it's just immediate family and once i drag my sisters out of bed, i know they'll help out with the cooking and baking. but i'll keep these tips because i know down the line i will need them. lol.

My family has ALWAYS served the traditional green bean casserole, which is yummy but not very exciting so this year I talked them into letting me serve a green bean dish that is a tiny bit different...green beans, bacon, onions, and water chestnuts. If they aren't keen on it, I will serve the other dish for New Year's.
I guess my menu would be considered "Texas Southern" :). My family's traditional menu has always included mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, biscuits or rolls, the green bean dish, and pie for dessert. I will be straying from tradition this year by serving Cornish hens instead of turkey because there will just be me, my husband and his mom this year. I might make mini pies for dessert.

thanksgiving is one of those holidays that can either be a great windfall and you can be really successful or it can be the total opposite. i think that it's a good thing that you're reminding us to think about menus and things like this now when we still have some time to plan.